The present invention relates to in-vehicle navigation systems and more particularly, the present invention relates to features provided by in-vehicle navigation systems relating to tollway information.
In-vehicle navigation systems are available that provide end users (such as drivers of the vehicles in which the in-vehicle navigation systems are installed) with various navigating functions and features. For example, some in-vehicle navigation systems are able to determine an optimum route to travel by roads between locations in a geographic region. Using input from the end user, and optionally from equipment that can determine one""s physical location (such as a GPS system), a navigation system can examine various routes between two or more locations to determine an optimum route to travel from a starting location to a destination location in a geographic region. The navigation system may then provide the end user with information about the optimum route in the form of instructions that identify the driving maneuvers required to be taken by the end user to travel from the starting location to the destination location. The instructions may take the form of visual and/or audio instructions that are provided along the way as the end user is traveling the route. Some navigation systems are able to show detailed maps on computer displays outlining routes to destinations, the types of maneuvers to be taken at various locations along the routes, locations of certain types of features, and so on.
In order to provide these and other navigating functions, navigation systems use geographic data. The geographic data may be in the form of one or more databases that include data that represent physical features in a geographic region. The geographic database may include data representing the roads and intersections in a geographic region and also may include information relating to the represented roads and intersections in the geographic region, such as turn restrictions at intersections, speed limits along the roads, street names of the various roads, address ranges along the roads, and so on.
Although navigation systems provide many important features, there continues to be room for improvements. One area in which there is room for improvement relates to providing instructions about tollways. Although some prior navigation systems may provide instructions about tollways, these prior systems have not provided instructions about exact change requirements, whether a toll booth or gate along a tollway was manned, whether electronic fare collection was available, etc. Accordingly, when using such prior navigation systems, the end user may not be prepared to make the appropriate payment at toll gates encountered while driving.
Accordingly, there exists a need for navigation systems to provide information relating to toll collection requirements
To address these and other objectives, the present invention comprises a navigation system that provides a user thereof with warning messages or advisories about toll gates that require exact change. The warning messages or advisories are provided when the navigation system calculates a solution route to a destination specified by the user. The warning messages or advisories are also provided when the user queries the navigation system about a particular specified portion of a road. The navigation system uses a geographic database that includes data about roads in a geographic region. The geographic database includes data about toll gates located along portions of roads, including data about whether a toll gate along a portion or a road requires exact change.